New white grout turning YELLOW! Help!

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Re: Algaecide issues

Update: TA is 110ppm. CH is 370.

ETA: my Just did the CYA test again. It's still below 30. (We followed the directions to add 30 ppm to our pool last Monday, but then emptied the skimmer basket the next day, so I think we lost some of it.) We added another dose to add 20ppm (with the goal of replacing what we probably lost when we emptied the basket) on Tuesday but maybe we didn't add enough because today is Saturday and it is still low.

I am so new to this "caring for my own pool" thing and am terrified that we will end up with algae again before our party. Right now though the water is still crystal.

Is there anything I need to do to ensure it stays that way? I have been checking the FC twice a day.
 
Just do your best to keep that FC at or above your target. Continue to go slow on the CYA as it is always easier to add than take away. After a while you will learn your pool's 'habits' and needs.

My pool is under two large trees, always dropping something in the pool. I've found that I need to keep a target 1-2ppm higher than the CYA target or my water will start to cloud up when it gets above 80F requiring a short SLAM to clear. Since I've started maintaining a higher target (knocks on wood) we're well into the 80's water temps and the water remains TFP clear.

Dom
 
You may want to place your CYA in a sock and hang it near a return in the future. You can squeeze it to hurry it along. That solves the problem of losing it before it disolves.

Before you know it, TOO will be second nature! (As long as you read up and follow it closely.)
 
Wait, what's TOO?

I have a question about iron staining/ascorbic acid treatments. My stains seem to come back almost immediately even after using a quality sequesterant (Jack's Magic) and keeping it at correct levels using their Sequest Test a couple of times per week. We are now doing our 3rd acid treatment in the last 4 months. Is this going to damage our plaster (Quartzscapes)?

If we do a drain-and-refill (we bought a 25k gallon metal trap filter) how much is safe to drain out at once? Or should we just circulate the existing water through the filter, now that the metals are back in solution?
 
She probably meant TFPC and got spell checked.

Ascorbic acid treatments will not damage your plaster. Have you determined what the source of the metal is? Draining and refilling is good as long as the metal isn't coming from your fill water.

Draining a gunite pool is dependent on your water table and soil drainage. The higher the water table and the more unstable the soil the less safe it is to drain it.
 
Thanks Pooldv. We are being careful and only draining out like 6 inches at a time. Being in Sacramento CA (and in a drought) our water table should be pretty low but I am no expert.

We tested our tap water with some strips and didn't get a reading, which is good, but they expire next month so there is always the possibility that they are just not working? But we did attach the metal trap filter just to be safe so I think our fill water will be okay.

Our working theory is that the iron may have come from our rock waterfall, which was sandblasted when they resurfaced the pool. There was a lot of dust left on the rocks and when we turned it on later the rock-dust would have gotten into the water. Despite our negative strip tests our CuLator packet is so yellow that it's practically orange, which does indicate iron.
 
So I have a question regarding my water...is there any advantage or disadvantage to using chlorine "pucks" in the little floating chlorine dispenser thing, in addition to using liquid bleach?

Interestingly, my chlorine dispenser (which was empty) was also stained orange-ish, and is now totally clean since the ascorbic acid treatment. Can plastic get iron stains too?
 
Well my pool saga continues. I totally get why people warned me that pools are money pits. Since our replaster, we have spent hundreds of dollars but nothing seems to solve our problems.

Here's the latest: we did our ascorbic acid treatment about 1.5 weeks ago. We have been unable to do much of a drain/refill because we are rarely home. We did drain out about a foot last weekend (our pool is something like 3.5-5-4) and refilled with water run through a Metal Trap filter. Somehow that (the ascorbic acid? Refilling? Not sure) resulted in our CYA being down to what appears to be 0 (our test only goes to 30 but the little dot thing was totally visible; the solution didn't look the least bit cloudy). So obviously between the zero CYA and the ascorbic acid, the pool is not holding chlorine at all. We are struggling to keep it at even 0.5 FC (since we are gone all day, and don't want to add too much at once because it makes the stains come back). We have been adding sequesterant like crazy (Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff) to keep it at 10-12ppm (the amount suggested by Jack's Magic) but I can already see that the grout is (very slightly) yellow again and my chlorine tab floater has orange stains again! Also my water is slightly cloudy, probably because there is like no chlorine in my pool. We also found a couple of (tiny) spots of algae, despite the fact that I have been adding algaecide according to the directions on the bottle every couple of days.

Here's my question: should I just sell my house and/or fill in and swear off pools forever? Ha just kidding. Sort of. Here's the real question. How can I get rid of algae without shocking/slamming? If I shock, my stains come back. It doesn't seem to help that I am using the Pink Stuff. The stains don't seem to care. Also I read somewhere in another (really old) thread that it might help to have the Pink Stuff at 30ppm instead of 10-12. Any experience with that?

I am so frustrated right now. :-( I am spending all my money on this stupid pool that I can't even use because it always looks awful. Our electric bill is running at $400 per month just because we are running out filter so much trying to solve these problems.
 

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You have to SLAM to kill the algae. To prevent algae in the future you have to maintain FC above minimum for your CYA at all times. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. The sequestrant will consume some chlorine also. The CYA was probably consumed by bacteria that grew when FC was below minimum also. The key to success with TFPC is to always maintain the chlorine/CYA ratio.
 
Well last time I had algae it went away when I added a dose of algaecide (on the recommendation of my Mom...before I had read much on this forum). I realize that I have since read in numerous places on this forum that algaecide doesn't do much to kill algae, but I swear it worked. Our water was crystal within 36 hours and we didn't shock/slam (we didn't get algae again until we did another acid treatment/let the chlorine fall too low...again). So I just added another big dose of algaecide. If it doesn't work, you can say "I told you so". ;-) I don't know why it worked last time, but it did.

Also I went to Leslie's to buy Polyquat 60 and the guy who worked there had no clue what I was even talking about. I bought Poly[oxyethylene(dimethylimino)ethylene(dimethylimino)ethyline dichloride] 60% which I think is polyquat 60 based on reading other threads here.
 
Yes, it is the same. It won't hurt anything. It can prevent algae reproduction but it won't kill existing algae. Be aware that it will also consume some FC so keep an eye on it. Just be sure to avoid any algaecides that contain copper.
 
Thanks Pooldv. I will let everyone know if it works. Like I said I am not sure why it worked last time, but it did (maybe because there was just a little algae? Basically the water was just cloudy and a bit green-tinged, which is also exactly how it looks now). Then again last time I didn't use a polyquat 60 (it wasn't copper either. It was HTH Super Algae Guard 60) so maybe it worked differently. I am also adding liquid chlorine, but not at slam levels. If it still looks cloudy tomorrow I will admit failure and SLAM. :)
 
Well it's 8pm now and the water looks way, way better. I can count the points on the phillips-head screws that hold my drain cover on. That's way better than it was earlier. I added algaecide (the dose recommended for slight visible algae growth) and also added almost 2 gallons of chlorine, but instead of adding it all at once, SLAM-style, I just added several cups (enough to raise the FC by 3ppm according to the pool math calculator) every couple of hours (in an attempt to avoid major staining. I also tested the water every couple of hours with a basic DPD test. I would add enough chlorine to bring it up by 3ppm (I started at like .5 FC, so this should have brought it up to 3.5) and then in 2 hours the FC would be down to about 1ppm again. But it seems to be holding at about 5ppm for the past couple of hours. I am going to do an overnight loss test with my FAS-DPD test to get a more accurate reading and see if it holds.

I read the post on how to do the overnight loss test but I am not sure if I should wait until it gets dark or just until the sun is down?
 
My test results are as follows:

Last night:
FC 5.8
CC 1.4

This morning:
FC 2.8
CC 0.8

Obviously the FC dropped because it is fighting algae. But why did the CC drop too? I would think it would have gone up if the FC was being "combined" with the algae germs...? Or is the chlorine still being eaten up by the ascorbic acid that we used like 2.5 weeks ago?
 
CC is fleeting and can fluctuate quite a bit and is just a matter of timing. I doubt if it is ascorbic acid. That should be gone by now. But, the algaecide is probably contributing to the FC loss. But, that is a pretty high FC loss and algae is likely part of that equation.
 
I tested my CH Saturday night and I am not sure if it's testing correctly.

I have read that iron in the water can interfere with the test and cause the sample to turn purple instead of blue. My sample turned purple and stayed that way for quite a few "drops" but did eventually turn blue, which gave me a reading of 380. This is within acceptable CH limits but I am wondering whether it is accurate? And if it IS accurate, does that mean I don't have metals after all?
 

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